Lions pull out victory late in game to advance to Bootheel championship

After winning their first round game against Hayti, on Monday, in easy fashion the Senath-Hornersville Lions would had to battle and give it all they had to pull out a 3 to 2 win over the Malden Greenwave in the Bootheel Conference semifinals. This win now matches the Lions against the Kennett Indians for the conference title.

Although the Lions won the game, it didn't look they would early in the ballgame. Senath-Hornersville pitcher Hannah Kennedy walked the first batter in the first inning, an inning that would lead to Malden to score two runs on three hits. The Lions also seemed to lack confidence in their defense in the first as they allowed the runners to advance bases and get in scoring position.

With the Greenwave scoring two runs in the top of the first, the Lions were forced to respond with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. The two runs came from McKenzie Harris and Kennedy scoring on a double by Maggy Smith. At this point in the game, the teams were back on even terms and they could begin the battle for a spot in the title game.

From the second inning on, the Lions shut down the Greenwave. After the first, Malden was shut out on the scoreboard and only reach base three times. For the ballgame, Kennedy struck out four batters, including the last out in the top of the seventh.

The bats of the Lions was shut down as well for three innings after the first, but they came to life just in time in the fifth as Harris reached first base on a single with one out. With two outs on the board, Megan B. Smith stepped up to the plate with the go-ahead run at third. Smith hit the ball towards the third baseman, who tried to throw out Harris at home. Harris was called safe and the Lions scored the eventual winning run. Malden would have escaped the inning without giving up a run if they would have gotten Smith out at first.

Malden did look to try to tie the game back up in the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Malden wasn't able to capitalize with runners in scoring position as the inning ended in a 1 to 2 to 3 double play. It was that double play that seemed to kill any chances of a Malden comeback as they were unable to put a runner on base in the seventh.

With his team battling hard to make it to the championship, Lions' head coach Shane Jordan commended his team's resilience to fight for the victory. "It feels good to win and get the chance to play for a conference championship. Malden played us very well today and it was good for us to play seven innings and get the big win,"

The Lions' Maggy Smith led all batters in the game, going 2-for-3 with and RBI. The Lions will now take on their rivals, the Kennett Indians, for the conference title today at 4:30 p.m.